Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir was brutal in his assessment of left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh two years back during the home T20I series against New Zealand in 2023. The 22-year-old had made his India debut only a few months back in the middle of the 2022 season. However, amid the several impressive spells, Arshdeep was consistently plagued by the no-ball issues. The seamer struggled in the opening T20I against the Kiwis in 2023 at Ranchi, with woeful figures of 1/51 in four overs. It led to Gambhir offering a scathing assessment of Arshdeep during his stint with Star Sports."You have to have something different up your sleeves whether it's a slower one or a slower bouncer. Some kind of variation. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the speed to actually rattle batters. So he's got to develop some variation. He is not Umran Malik, he's not Mohammed Siraj. So one thing he needs to do is probably try and keep it very simple and sort his no balls out which is equally important," said Gambhir (via Hindustan Times).He continued:"These numbers are fine, It can go south and it can go north. But the most important thing is you can’t afford to bowl those no-balls. That is absolutely unacceptable, especially at this level, and it can come back to hurt you and the team big time."Arshdeep's dismal performance meant India suffered a shocking 21-run defeat in the series opener against New Zealand.Arshdeep Singh has been a surprising exclusion from the Indian XI in the ongoing 2025 Asia CupArshdeep Singh has come a long way since Gautam Gambhir's brutal remarks in 2023. The left-arm pacer is India's all-time leading wicket-taker in T20Is with 99 scalps at an average of 18.30 and an economy of 8.29 in 63 games. The talented seamer also played a crucial role in India's triumph in the 2024 T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the USA. Arshdeep finished as the tournament's joint-leading wicket-taker with 17 scalps at an average of 12.64 and an economy of 7.16 in eight matches. Despite the stellar T20I numbers, the left-armer hasn't found a place in the Indian XI in their first two matches of the ongoing Asia Cup 2025. The Men in Blue have preferred to have batting depth up to No.8, leaving room for only three specialist bowlers. Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, and Varun Chakaravarthy have played each of the first two matches against the UAE and Pakistan, while Arshdeep has warmed the bench. With the side winning both games convincingly, there is uncertainty about the 26-year-old being picked in the XI for their final Group A outing against Oman on September 19.